comment

WYCKOFF, N.J. – Soccer teams from throughout Bergen and Passaic Counties are kicking the ball for a good cause this season: to raise funds for a Wyckoff player fighting cancer.

Ben Landel, a multi-sport athlete at Ramapo High School in Wyckoff, was diagnosed with a rare and powerful cancer in May, and has since gone through five rounds of chemotherapy, and is showing progress.

Last month, his soccer team launched a social media challenge to raise funds and Landel’s spirits. And it's spread … a lot.

By Friday afternoon, nearly $30,000 had been raised for the senior through a
GoFundMe page
, and numerous videos had been created and tagged with the hashtag #Bars4Ben.

The campaign encourages teams to have their players each take three shots at the cross bar of the goal, and make a $10 donation for each shot that hits the cross bar.

The teams are encouraged to video and take photos of the attempts, challenge other teams to take part, and post the videos and photos to Facebook and Instagram with the #Bars4Ben hashtag.